Galâpagos giant tortoises mature sexually in their 20s if held in captivity. But those in living in the wild reach sexual maturity in their 40s. The turtles usually mate between the months of February and June as it rains a lot. After mating the female moves to lowland which is dry to lay her eggs.

Occasionally in June, they might lay around 8-17 eggs (# is based of the species they are). Then they later cover the nest and returns back to their old location. (highlands) The eggs develop and grow over 3-8 month period. This depends on a variety of factors such as surrounding air temperature, before hatching. The temperature of the nest can also determine what gender the the child would be. Hotter the temperature will result in a female offspring. Colder the temperature will result in male offsprings. (Galápagos Giant Tortoise)